This study was designed as an exploratory study to understand fear of
gang crime among residents living in an urban area plagued by
gangs. During the Summer of 1997, six focus groups were conducted in
Santa Ana, California -- two in lower income neighborhoods, two in middle
income neighborhoods, and two in upper income neighborhoods. After the
focus groups ended, participants were asked to take disposable cameras
with them and take pictures of examples of neighborhood factors that
prompted them to fear gangs and then mail them back to me in a
postage-paid envelope.
The research questions guiding this study were: How do the
fear-of-crime perspectives apply to fear of gang crime specifically?
When worrying about gang crime, do different people focus primarily on
different problems (e.g., some diversity or some disorder), or do the
same people think about all of these factors? Findings first showed
that all four theoretical perspectives on fear of crime applied to the
same people at once, rather than to different people (e.g., some being
worried about racial and ethnic differences but others about
disorder). Second, findings illustrated specifically how these
residents connected the factors into one thought process leading to
fear of gangs. Residents in these groups clearly believed that ethnic
and cultural diversity, or in this case, recent "illegal" Latino
immigrants, brought disorder, which in turn caused community decline
and brought gangs. This thought process led to personal fear of
gang-related victimization. Their beliefs about these causal
connections were primarily influenced by their knowledge and
observations that gangs in the area were Latino; by direct observation
of area diversity disorder, and decline; and by experience living in
their changing neighborhoods over time. In addition, beliefs were
fueled by indirect victimization, or knowledge gained primarily
through acquaintances such as neighbors and community policing
officers.

This study was designed as an exploratory study to understand fear of
gang crime among residents living in an urban area plagued by
gangs. During the Summer of 1997, six focus groups were conducted in
Santa Ana, California -- two in lower income neighborhoods, two in middle
income neighborhoods, and two in upper income neighborhoods. After the
focus groups ended, participants were asked to take disposable cameras
with them and take pictures of examples of neighborhood factors that
prompted them to fear gangs and then mail them back to me in a
postage-paid envelope.

The research questions guiding this study were: How do the
fear-of-crime perspectives apply to fear of gang crime specifically?
When worrying about gang crime, do different people focus primarily on
different problems (e.g., some diversity or some disorder), or do the
same people think about all of these factors? Findings first showed
that all four theoretical perspectives on fear of crime applied to the
same people at once, rather than to different people (e.g., some being
worried about racial and ethnic differences but others about
disorder). Second, findings illustrated specifically how these
residents connected the factors into one thought process leading to
fear of gangs. Residents in these groups clearly believed that ethnic
and cultural diversity, or in this case, recent "illegal" Latino
immigrants, brought disorder, which in turn caused community decline
and brought gangs. This thought process led to personal fear of
gang-related victimization. Their beliefs about these causal
connections were primarily influenced by their knowledge and
observations that gangs in the area were Latino; by direct observation
of area diversity disorder, and decline; and by experience living in
their changing neighborhoods over time. In addition, beliefs were
fueled by indirect victimization, or knowledge gained primarily
through acquaintances such as neighbors and community policing
officers.

Access Notes

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Study Description

Citation

Lane, Jodi, and Joan Petersilia. Understanding the Fear of Street Gangs: The Importance of Community Conditions [Santa Ana, California, 1997]. ICPSR32161-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2012-02-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR32161.v1

The data in this study are all qualitative. As a result, the standard ICPSR product suite is not available for this study.

The Townsend Raitt neighborhood transcript is shorter than the other transcripts. Conversations with the investigator have revealed that the transcript deposited with ICPSR is complete.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
The study was designed to better understand the
thinking process that leads people to fear gangs and specifically to understand how the four perspectives on fear of crime (indirect victimization, disorder/incivilities, community concern/decline, and
subcultural diversity) apply to fear of gang crime specifically.

Sample:
Snowball sampling. See Lane, J. (2002). Fear of Gang Crime: A Qualitative Examination of the Four Perspectives. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39: 437-471.

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